


Brothers in Arms

by captainamergirl



Category: General Hospital
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-14 20:11:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14776472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainamergirl/pseuds/captainamergirl
Summary: Brothers by birth; rivals by destiny...Sam plans to marry Patrick but fate may have other plans for her.





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**  
  
Sam McCall (soon-to-be-Drake. Or she would be, that is, if the groom ever showed up) was waiting in the bridal room at St. Luke‘s, tapping her fingers nervously on the back of the hard chair she was sitting in. “Where is he?” she muttered.  
  
“He’s going to be here soon, Sam. I’m sure of it,” Alexis Davis said. “He probably just got caught in traffic or something.”  
  
Sam rolled her eyes. “Of course. Why didn’t I think of that? I mean traffic is really heavy in this little town of what - 2,300 people,” she said sarcastically.  
  
Alexis walked over to her daughter and cupped Sam’s chin in her hands. “Stop worrying, honey. He’ll be here. Your father already gave him a royal talking to about breaking your heart. I believed the ’talk’ involved a warning and the words ‘gun‘, ‘rope’ and ‘the bottom of the harbor.’”  
  
Sam sighed. “Robert didn’t really say those things, did he? He can’t have. That’s just wonderful. My future husband has to be threatened with bodily harm and cement shoes so that he’ll marry me. What a great start, don’t you think? Besides I thought he didn’t like the idea of Patrick and me after…”  
  
“Robin and Patrick,” Alexis finished for her.  
  
Sam nodded. “I know she’s top priority in his life - her happiness; her daughter, which I totally understand,” Sam said hurriedly. “I’m just surprised he even came at all knowing how unhappy this must be making Robin.”  
  
“I am sure she’s hurting, but she walked away from Patrick - not the other way around,” Alexis said softly.  
  
“I know,” Sam mumbled. “Its just I know they really loved each other and it’s kind of weird to be marrying your half sister’s ex-fiancé.”  
  
“Probably,” Alexis admitted. “But Port Charles wouldn’t be Port Charles without some inter-marrying going on.”  
  
Sam chuckled. “Very true. I still can’t believe she’s my sister anyway.”  
  
“I still can’t believe Robert is your father,” Alexis said. “That definitely took me by surprise!”  
  
Sam smiled in spite of herself. “Mother, I cannot believe you forgot who he was.”  
  
“I didn’t forget … per se. Its just he looked a lot different when he was younger and he knew me as Natasha then,” Alexis said. “But let’s not rehash that now. The important thing is getting you down the aisle.”  
  
“Oh, that we could,” Sam said. “He’s only an hour late. I say we give him five more minutes and if he doesn’t show, we run for the border. I am craving some tacos anyway.”  
  
“I’ll try calling him again,” Alexis said, withdrawing her phone from her purse and dialing Patrick’s cell phone number. She had it on speed dial since it was the easiest way to reach Sam these days as she and Patrick were usually together.  
  
Alexis frowned and Sam shook her head. “Still not answering?” she said knowingly.  
  
“Nope,” Alexis said softly. “But don’t get carried away. That doesn’t mean he’s not coming.”  
  
“Yes, it does, Mom. He’s not coming because he must have figured out what a mistake it is to marry someone like me.”  
  
Alexis shook her head. “Chin up, Sam, this is a wedding - not a pity party.”  
  
“Sorry. It’s just … God I feel so lucky to have him in my life after everything I’ve done. I really feel sometimes like I don’t deserve him.”  
  
“I think it’s the other way around,” she heard a now-familiar voice say.  
  
Sam turned in her seat to see Robert Scorpio walking into the room. “Hey, Da- Robert,” she said. She had been about to call him “Dad” and knew that neither of them were ready for that yet.  
  
“The louse still ain’t here yet, I take it,” Robert said, walking over to Sam and touching her cheek.  
“No. The louse isn’t,” Sam admitted. “But I’m not sure I can blame him. I knew going into this marriage that he was scared shitless of commitment.”  
  
“Sam!” Alexis snapped. “We’re in a church. Do you want to be struck down on your wedding day?”  
  
“What’s left of it,” Sam murmured. “Anyway, everyone thanks for coming, but I’d say the wedding is off.”  
  
Just then there was a knock at the door. Sam’s heart sped up. “Okay, he had made it after all,” she said, breathing a sigh of relief. She didn’t want anymore bad luck though, so instead of opening the door, so she called out, _“Patrick?”_  
  
“No, its Matt,” his brother’s quiet voice came from the other side.  
  
Sam immediately walked over to the door and pulled it open. Matt had a contrite, sad expression on his face and she knew he was there to deliver horrible news. “What is it? What’s happened to Patrick?”  
  
“He’s been in an accident, Sam,” he said. “I just got a call from our dad. I guess it was a bad one.”  
  
Sam shook her head. “Please tell me you’re lying, Matt. That this is just one of your sick jokes.” When she looked into his dark, stormy eyes she could see the truth there; this was no joke.  
  
“Want me to take you to the hospital?” Matt asked.  
  
Sam nodded through tears. “Yes, please.”  
  
To her surprise, Matt pulled off his dark, pressed suit jacket and wrapped it around her bare shoulders, clutching her close to him. He must have seen her shaking and shivering. It was, after all, November in New York. Matt hurried her along the foyer outside the church. She felt the eyes of numerous guests on her but couldn’t bring herself to speak to them; tell them why she was leaving her own wedding. She thought they would be able to tell from the tears following freely down her face that something truly horrible had happened.  
  
Matt ushered her into his car and shut the door, walking around to his side. “You look green, McCall,” he said as he climbed in and started up his Lamborghini.  
  
“I feel worse,” she murmured, clutching her suddenly aching stomach.  
  
Matt glanced at her and then pulled out into the street. “How long have you been feeling ill?”  
  
“Don’t go doctor on me, Hunter,” Sam said. “Just tell me what happened to Patrick. Is he going to be okay?”  
  
“I don’t know,” Matt admitted, looking uncertain, drawn and pale. She had never seen him look so shaken before; never had she witnessed him look so vulnerable. He honestly looked the way she felt. Instinctively, she reached out and squeezed his arm in a gesture of support. He glanced down at her hand and just kept driving.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1**   
  
**_2 years earlier ..._**  
  
It was snowing and the chill of the night seemed to seep right into her bones, but she didn’t really care. She had just been to visit her baby girl’s grave. Alone, as always, for what seemed like the hundredth time since Lila’s death. Once upon a time she hadn’t had to go alone. There had been a warm hand clutched in hers and a body pressed to her side, providing comfort to her tormented heart, but those days were long past. It was her baby’s birthday and no one had remembered - not Sonny, not Jason, not even Lucky to whom she was engaged. She had hoped he would remember; notice the way she was aching inside. Maybe even see the dark circles under her eyes as she spent most of the last week in bed, wrestling emotions, fighting back the unending tears that seemed to pour from what seemed like a bottomless fountain of pain. Lucky had been so busy lately that she supposed she couldn’t blame him. Still, she had never felt more alone.  
  
She had recently been through another violating round of tests and found out that she was never going to be able to have a baby. It wasn’t news but this time she knew her dreams of carrying a child of her own would never be fulfilled. She would never hold her own baby in her arms; feel its heartbeat against her own; never soothe its tears, never be able to give all of the love she had inside to him or her. It broke her heart.   
  
_What was left of it._   
  
It had gotten late as she slowly made her way from the cemetery to the docks. She heard a scuffle of feet behind her and turned to see Dr. Patrick Drake coming down the stairs. He had his hands jammed deep into his jacket pockets and he looked exactly the way she felt.  
  
“Do you know what time it is, Ms. McCall?” he asked upon spotting her.  
  
Sam nodded. “Do you?”  
  
“It’s after midnight. Do you really think a woman should be wandering the docks at this time?”  
  
“I don’t know, should she?” Sam snapped back. “Any sane woman - or man -” she put an emphasis on the last part - “would be home tucked in bed away from the cold.”  
  
“I guess neither of us is very sane,” he said.  
  
“Obviously,” Sam said. “Now if you don’t mind leaving … I already claimed these docks for myself. There isn’t room enough for the both of us.”  
  
“Well make room,” Patrick said, flopping down onto a bench and stretching out his long, lean legs. “Not that I care, but what are you doing out here so late?”  
  
“Since you don’t care, you won’t mind if I don’t answer,” Sam said, going back to slowly pacing the docks.  
  
They were silent for a long time as Sam paced and he watched her and then he said, “Just tell me. What’s bothering you, I mean. I’m bored.”  
  
“Why don’t you go home to your little girl?” Sam said. “You are lucky to have her,” she said softly, picturing what it would be like to have a brunette little girl like Emma Scorpio-Drake curled up in her lap, looking at her with those wide eyes. Sam had gotten to hold Emma once and she was the sweetest, most inquisitive little girl. Her eyes seemed to seem everything.  
  
“Oh, if only I could, Ms. McCall,” Patrick said.  
  
“Is this where you fill me in on your sad sob story?” Sam asked.  
  
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Patrick said.  
  
Sam flopped down on the bench next to him. “Okay, I’m intrigued. Why can’t you go home to your daughter? I bet she’s all curled up in her bed, waiting for Daddy to kiss her goodnight.”  
  
“She’s not,” Patrick said and Sam swore she almost heard a trace of vulnerability in those two words. She had never seen Patrick Drake as anything but a posturing, preening, egotistical manwhore. She had been truly surprised that he had settled down and married Robin Scorpio; raising a little girl with her.  
  
“Why not?” Sam couldn’t help but ask. She was really intrigued now.  
  
“Robin … left,” Patrick said quietly.   
  
“I don‘t believe you. She wouldn‘t,” Sam said. “Where would she even go?”  
  
Patrick’s eyes snapped up to hers. “Don’t be dense, Ms. McCall. She’s gone for good. Flew the coop, shipped out, hasta la vista, baby …”  
  
“Oh, I am sorry,” Sam and she truly was. She knew exactly what it felt like to be left behind. It had been her life story for as long as she could remember.   
  
“What happened if you don’t mind me asking?”  
  
“Well, apparently I’m not responsible enough or committed enough,” Patrick said darkly. “Apparently, I am morally deficient. To use her words, ‘we grew apart’.”  
  
“It happens,” Sam said.  
  
Patrick watched her again. “Are you going to take her side?”  
  
“I’m not taking anyone’s side. I’m just saying people do grow apart. Sometimes it almost seems inevitable. Wish it wasn’t that way though … So where did she go?”  
  
“Back to Paris with Emma. She says I can see my daughter whenever I please, but Emma might as well be a million miles away.”  
  
“I am so sorry,” Sam said again.  
  
“Hey, don’t pity me,” Patrick snapped. “I’ll be just fine. I can be a bachelor again. I can do whatever the hell I want to …”  
  
Sam thought that didn’t sound very fulfilling. In fact, it sounded rather selfish, but she didn’t say so. He didn’t seem convinced that that was the life he wanted anymore anyway.  
  
“Okay, so I shared. Now you have to,” Patrick said, shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts.  
  
Sam sighed. “I didn’t agree to that.”  
  
“Just humor me here. I ‘unburdened’ by soul. You have to do the same,” he said snarkily.  
  
“Where do I start?”  
  
“I don’t care.”  
  
Sam splayed her tiny hands. “I went to visit my daughter’s grave again tonight - alone, of course. I realized I am never going to hold her in my arms. I mean, I knew it logically, but it finally set in … uh, emotionally? That I am never going to hold her or any baby for that matter. It’s just not fair.”  
  
“Yes I heard,” Patrick said.  
  
Sam’s dark eyes flamed. “You heard what?”  
  
“I work at GH, Sam, where you get your fertility tests done. I hear things.”  
  
“Were you checking up on me or something?” she demanded.  
  
“No.”  
  
“I thought Dr. Lee was supposed to keep those test results private. It’s my business and no one else’s.”  
  
“Not even your boy-toy’s?”  
  
“Excuse me?”  
  
“Your ball and chain - Lucky Spencer. I take it you haven’t told him yet.”  
  
Sam shook her head. “No. He really wants a child of his own. He loves Elizabeth’s boys like crazy, but I know he wants more kids. And I can’t give them to him and it makes me feel …”  
  
“Shitty?”  
  
Sam nodded, almost smiling. “Yeah, basically.”  
  
“There are other options, you know, Ms. McCall,” Patrick said. “Adoption, for example.”  
  
“Of course I’ve looked into that. Its just with my record, no one will give me a hamster, let alone a baby to take care of.”  
  
“Oh,” Patrick said. “Well …”  
  
“Well, what?”  
  
“I don’t know. What do you want me to say?”  
  
“Nothing, just nothing,” Sam said. “I think you’ve said enough.”  
  
“Listen to me. I can look into your results if you want me to. There are alternatives.”  
  
“Thanks, but I don’t want to get up my hopes again,” Sam said. “I don’t want Lucky to get all excited and then … nothing … no baby, no connection, no …” Her voice trailed off.  
  
“You know what you need, Ms. McCall?” Patrick said.  
  
“What?”  
  
“A drink. A tall, warm beer.”  
  
Sam shook her head. “No thanks. I know better than to get drunk when I’m like this. Alexis made me go into therapy. I know my triggers.”  
  
“So - what? You think I’m going to get you drunk and ravish you?”  
  
“Is that what you were planning?”   
  
“No. Not at all.”  
  
“I’m just going to go home. Lucky should be back from the station by now. I guess it’s as good a time as any to tell him the news.”  
  
Patrick nodded and watched her go. She was halfway up the stairs when Patrick called out to her, “Good luck, Ms. McCall.”  
  
She called back, “Thanks. I’ll need it.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

**_Back to current day..._ **   
  
Matt ushered Sam inside the hospital, leading her over to a chair in the waiting room and forcing her down into it. She tried to protest but he just glared at her. He could see that she was weak and exhausted emotionally, and as much as she wanted to put up a fight, she didn‘t feel strong enough to do so.    
  
“Patrick - Patrick? How is he?” She managed to croak out through a throat that felt so incredibly dry.   
  
“I’ll find out now,” Matt said. “You stay here.”   
  
Sam did not try to move for fear she would topple over. Her knees and legs felt like they were made of gelatin. She bit her lip as hard as she could to hold back the waves of nausea that coursed throughout her small frame.   
  
Matt returned with Noah and they both had matching pale, drawn faces. As Sam locked eyes with Matt, she could see right away that the news was far from good.   
  
For one heart-stopping moment, she tried to imagine what life would be like without Patrick by her side to make her laugh and feel loved and wanted, and realized that she couldn’t form a clear picture of what that life would be like; or even what she would be like without him.    
  
“He was in critical condition when they took him into surgery,” Noah said, rubbing his face so hard it looked like he was taking off a layer of skin in the process. “They won’t let me into the OR. They know I can’t be objective.”   
  
“What - what happened to him?” Sam asked. “All Matt could tell me was that it was some kind of accident.”   
  
“A car accident,” Noah said. “His car slid over an embankment. He must have hit a patch of ice or something.”   
  
“I can‘t believe all of this is happening,” Sam whispered hoarsely. She forced herself to stand up and walk over to Noah. She wrapped her slender arms around his waist and he embraced her back. They had become close since Patrick and Sam became involved and Sam looked up to him as a sort of father figure although she knew how much he had loved Robin being apart of Patrick’s life.   
  
Matt watched them for a minute and then said, “I’m going to go see if I can find anything else out. From what I gather, he has severe head trauma plus multiple lacerations and internal bleeding.”   
  
_Multiple lacerations and internal bleeding … multiple … internal … bleeding …_   
  
The words echoed in her mind in a frenzy of bright color. Dizziness immediately washed over her.   
  
"Sam!" Matt called out.   
  
A pair of strong arms wrapped around her right before the world went dark.   
  
XoXoXo   
  
“Is she going to be okay, Matt?” Alexis asked worriedly as she watched the small form of her daughter curled up in a hospital bed. “I mean, she fainted …”   
  
Matt nodded, unconsciously reaching out and massaging Sam’s cool forehead. Alexis was standing at Sam’s other side watching. “This is a nightmare,” Alexis murmured.   
  
“Yeah, tell me about it,” Matt murmured.    
  
He opened a cupboard and withdrew a package of smelling salts. Breaking one under Sam’s nose, she almost immediately began to stir. “That’s a good sign,” Alexis said, grasping Sam’s hand. “Right?”   
  
Matt just nodded.   
  
Sam’s eyes fluttered open slowly and she found herself looking up into the warm hazel eyes of her mother. “What - what …” she started.   
  
“You fainted,” Alexis said. “Matt carried you in here. I know you’re going to be okay though.”   
  
“And Patrick?” Sam said, turning to face Matt. “How is he? When can I see him?”   
  
Matt sighed. “After I’ve run some tests on you.”   
  
Sam pulled herself up to a sitting position. “Me? Why would you want to do any tests on me?”   
  
“You passed out, McCall. We take that seriously around here,” Matt snapped. Sam could see that the stress of the day was getting to him as well although he was attempting to maintain his familiar façade of brevity and stoicism.   
  
“I obviously fainted because … God, who cares? Just let me see my fiancé already,” Sam snapped back.   
  
“Not til I say so, McCall,” Matt said.    
  
Alexis watched the battle of wills as she stroked Sam’s hair, and then cupped her daughter’s face in her hands. “Sam, you can’t be strong for Patrick if you’re feeling ill yourself. Let Matt take care of you. Besides, Patrick is still in surgery.”   
  
“Still?” Sam said. “Do they know anything else?” She addressed the last part to Matt.   
  
“All I can seem to squeeze out of the nurses is that he’s still in very critical condition,” Matt said. “I’m a doctor here but they’re treating me like some simpering …” His voice trailed off.    
  
He didn’t want to scare Sam. He didn’t want her to know that he was already feeling a gnawing sensation of worry himself. He had never expected to love his brother (hell, he wasn’t sure he even did), but he had believed that there would be years and years to decide if he should keep on hating Patrick and ignoring him, or if he would finally accept their relationship as it was. Now everything just looked so uncertain that it was hard to decide what he should be feeling at that moment.    
  
“Okay can we just get these tests done?” Sam said. “Then I’m going to see Patrick and no one can stop me.”   
  
XoXoXo   
  
Sam had a full panel of blood and urine tests done and then was finally able to get news on Patrick. He had just come out of surgery and was in the ICU. Things still did not look good, Dr. Archer told her, but they were monitoring him closely. He had said, “If he … makes it through the night … That’s a good sign.” But Sam had seen the reservation in his eyes and knew that he was far from optimistic.   
  
Noah walked slowly over to Sam who was sitting in the hospital’s waiting room again. He offered her a weak smile that did not reach his eyes. “Hey, kiddo, how are you holding up?”   
  
Sam shook her head. “Why is everyone worried about me? Its Patrick that’s lying in a hospital close to de-” She stopped before she could say the word; that horrible, gut-wrenching, miserable word.    
  
Noah nodded. “Patrick would want you to be okay too, Sam,” he said. “Anyway, I thought you should know that I managed to finagle a visit for you to see Patrick.”   
  
Sam looked up. “Seriously?”   
  
“Yes. Only one of us is allowed in and I think it should be you.”   
  
Sam shook her head. “Oh no. You go, Noah, you need to be with your son.”   
  
Noah sighed. “Sam, I want you to see him. I think hearing your voice will be good for him.”   
  
Sam swallowed over the hard lump in her throat. “Noah -”   
  
“Please, Sam,” he said quietly.    
  
She nodded and started to stand up but felt two warm hands on her arms and felt herself pushed down into a wheelchair. She looked up at Matt and was about to snap at him that she was not an invalid but realized that they were all just trying to look out for her. “Let’s go, McCall,” he said crisply.   
  
He wheeled her down the hall and they paused in front of a closed off room. Matt bent down, grasping either side of the wheelchair. His breath was warm on Sam’s face. “Okay now you have to be prepared. Patrick is in … bad shape …” He murmured, his voice catching. “He has a lot of bumps and bruises and is connected to like a hundred machines but they are actually helping him. Don’t go in there with any thought in your head but helping him wake up.”   
  
Sam nodded mutely as a tear crept down her face. Matt watched her for a moment and then pulling open the door, wheeled her inside. She saw that Matt was right; Patrick was a mess of bruises and lacerations and seemed connected to every machine available. On top of that, Patrick looked so vulnerable and weak. She had never before seen him as anything but strong and virile and this was beyond devastating to her.   
  
She felt a fresh wave of tears coursing down her face as Matt wheeled her over to Patrick’s bedside. She looked up at Matt. “Can I … can I touch him?”   
  
“Yeah, just be careful,” Matt said. “I’m going to go see about your test results but I’ll be back.”   
  
Sam nodded. “Okay.”   
  
Matt handed her a box of Kleenex and then left the room. Sam slowly reached out and took Patrick’s right hand in hers. “Hey,” she said. “I was about to ask how you’re doing but I can see that you’re not too good.” She rubbed his cold hand lightly, trying to give him warmth and let him know she was there for him and that she was not going anywhere.   
  
“Patrick, I have heard that if you talk to someone who’s unconscious, they can actually hear your voice. You are a doctor so you’d know for sure but … Well I am going to talk to you okay. Talk to you until you wake up …”   
  
She pressed his still ice-cold hand to her face. “I love you. And you have to wake up, okay, because I need you. And I’m not leaving you so you cannot leave me. Everyone needs you actually - your brother and your father, and your daughter … Emma needs her dad most of all. I know it’s been awhile since you’ve seen her but she knows you love her and it will break her heart if she doesn’t see you again. So wake up, okay? Think of her if no one else. Don’t be selfish and forget about her when she needs you so much.   
  
“Just know that you are loved so much by everyone. You put on a brave face and act all egotistical and like you don’t have a care in the world, but most people can see right through that act … Just be strong like you always are and come out of this though, okay?”   
  
More tears poured down her face and she was unable to continue speaking so she just held his hand and kissed it over and over again, willing him to feel the love she felt for him, willing him to listen to her words and wake the hell up already. They all needed him so badly. They all loved him so much. And they would all be truly devastated if he didn’t make it through this …   
  
The door opened and Matt walked in. “Sam, I - I got your test results back,” he said. He had called her “Sam” for the first time that she could ever remember so she knew this was serious.   
  
“What is it?” She asked, preparing herself for more bad news.   
  
“It’s not bad - not at all,” Matt said hurriedly. “Actually, I think it could help Patrick.”   
  
“What do you mean?”   
  
“Sam, you are … you’re pregnant.”


End file.
